I just finished Laura Moriary's The Chaperone -- a story based around the legendary Louise Brooks (silent film star not our cousin) and her arrival in New York to attend the Denishawn Ballet school as a fifteen-year old. She is acompanied by Cora Carlisle, a housewife from Louise's hometown of Wichita Kansas. While the real story is Cora's journey and awakening during the upheaval of the 1920s, the historical perspective of the period interwoven with the factual details of Louise's life round out the book to be an excellent read rich in both plot and character development.
It was a good listen, too, except that the book was narrated by Elizabeth McGovern (Downton Abbey) and her accent (lack of accent?) was a little odd. Elizabeth McGovern is an excellent Cora, Countess of Grantham, but maybe not the very best choice for Cora of Wichita, KS.
